The American Lawyer: Latest Merger Miss Highlights High Bar for Trans-Atlantic Tie-Ups
A recent article by Amanda O'Brien for The American Lawyer looks at why transatlantic law firm mergers so often stall before they reach the finish line, examining a recent high-profile approach that didn't move forward.
The piece explores the structural gap in profitability between US and UK firms as one of the central sticking points in these conversations, alongside the cultural and management questions that surface once talks get serious.
Joyce Wong, Managing Director, West Coast US at Macrae, comments in the piece on the compensation and governance dynamics that tend to complicate these discussions:
"Partner compensation systems can be really challenging... there's a delta in how partners are compensated in the US and how it compares to pay in UK and European firms. How that's going to be combined can really be a challenge for firms culturally and financially. There are also aspects of control, such as where is management going to sit, or will the combined firm culturally be more of a European, UK or US kind of flavor. There has to be some agreement on how the combined entity is going to manage itself and where those centers of power are going to be."
The article also notes that a stalled merger conversation is rarely the end of the story — several firms that have faced setbacks in one potential combination have gone on to find success with a different partner altogether, or pursued organic and lateral growth as an alternative path into new markets.
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